1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a golf club construction employing a novel hosel coupling assembly for releaseably connecting a shaft to a club head, and a method of using it for interchangeably using different shafts. The invention relates more particularly to a hosel coupling assembly which facilitates interchanging various shafts with various club heads for fitting purposes according to a novel method.
2. Background Art
An important factor for achieving a successful golf game is the proper matching of a set of golf clubs to a particular golfer. Having a properly matched set of golf clubs enables the golfer to use the clubs without modifying the characteristics of the golfer's golf swing to accommodate the characteristics of the clubs. The most common way for the golfer to obtain a properly matched set of golf clubs has been selecting off-the-shelf golf clubs with predefined, fixed characteristics. Such off-the-shelf clubs provided some variations to suit golfer's having various different golf swing characteristics, but could not address the golf swing characteristics of every individual golfer. In this regard, an exemplary set of golf clubs includes a number of similar clubs, such as irons or woods, having different characteristics to facilitate a variety of golf club/golf ball interactions for achieving different types of desired golf shots. Thus, while a set of off-the-shelf golf clubs may have permitted a golfer to obtain at least one golf club in the set which was suited for the golfer's golf swing characteristics, it was unlikely that every golf club in the selected set was suited for the golf swing characteristics of that golfer to achieve all of the desired golf shots.
Golf clubs having a club head that was detachable from a shaft were proposed to enable a golfer to obtain a set of golf clubs utilizing the same shaft. Thus, a number of club heads having the appropriate variations could be utilized with a single shaft adapted to the golfer's golf swing characteristics to achieve the desired golf shots. For example, reference may be made to the following U.S. patents disclosing such detachable club head/shaft combinations: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,669,836; 3,524,646; 4,664,382, and 4,852,782.
More recently, the use of customized golf clubs has enabled golf clubs to be produced which more closely fit the individual golf swing characteristics of any golfer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,098 disclosed a coupling for enabling a club head to be interchangeable with a shaft. By permitting the club head and shaft to be interchangeable, the coupling enabled a variety of club head/shaft combinations to be assembled. In this way, a suitable club head/shaft combination could be selected to accommodate the golfer's golf swing characteristics.
Although the coupling disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,098 provided some flexibility in the selection of golf clubs adapted especially for an individual golfer, the patented coupling was not capable of adjusting all of the characteristics of the golf clubs to match the golf swing characteristics of the golfer. In particular, the disclosed coupling did not permit any variation in connection with angular relationships between the club head and shaft, including club lie angle and club face angle.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved hosel coupling assembly, and method of using it, for substantially increasing the number of possible variations in the club head/shaft combination to fit an individual golfer's golf swing characteristics.
A hosel construction was disclosed in co-pending and commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/923,546 filed Sep. 4, 1997, entitled "HOSEL CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME," (the "Hosel application") for facilitating the assembly of customized golf clubs, which application is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The disclosed hosel construction included a plug member at a fixed relationship relative to a neck portion to help define angular relationships between the club head and the shaft. By utilizing a set of the hosel constructions, each having a unique plug member/neck portion relationship, a particular one of the group of hosel constructions could be selected to match the golf swing characteristics of a particular golfer. In this way, a desired hosel construction could be selected for a given golfer for each golf club in a golf club set to provide a customized set of golf clubs for the user.
While the hosel construction disclosed in the Hosel application increased the number of possible angular relationships between the club head and the shaft to help fit an individual golfer's golf swing characteristics to the golfer, the disclosed hosel construction did not facilitate the matching of shaft characteristics to the golf swing characteristics.
Therefore, it would also be highly desirable to have a new and improved hosel coupling assembly for joining a shaft to a club head to form a golf club adapted for the swing characteristics of an individual golfer, and for permitting alternative shafts to be joined to the club head to further refine the golf club characteristics to match the golf swing characteristics of the golfer. Such a hosel coupling assembly should permit the coupling of a shaft to a club head in a quick and easy manner, and should facilitate producing customized golf clubs according to a novel modular system of fitting golf clubs to individual golfers.